Page 21 of A Stable Daddy

Ryan’s gaze shifts from taking the room in and settles back on me. He cocks his head and, after a moment where I guess he was deliberating whether to ask or not, he says, “Well, you know the bones of my sob story. Did you want to tell me yours? You said something about a lying, cheating ex?”

I cringe, feeling like what I went through pales in comparison to his trauma. When I tell him as much, he huffs and sits on the edge of the bed, patting the space beside him. I sit, because I enjoy his presence too much to turn him down. He smiles softly. “You know that trauma isn’t a competition. Your feelings and pain aren’t less valid than mine just because there wasn’t any death involved. Heartache is heartache, no matter the catalyst for it.”

Well, I can’t argue with that, can I?

“I’d ask how you got so wise, but knowing even a little of what you’ve been through makes the question kind of dumb.” I lean in and bump his shoulder with mine playfully to lighten the mood. “And you’re right. I just feel like admitting just howstupid and trusting I was might shake your trust in me as a Daddy. Assuming you were even interested in—”

“I am,” he interrupts me quickly. “Interested in you, I mean. In exploring that whole Daddy Dom/Boy dynamic further.” His skin turns pink again and he rubs his palm over his face. “God, I hope that’s where you were going with it. Not that I’d say no to a one-night thing, either, but…I’d like more if you do, too.”

Oh, this sweet, sweet Boy.

“Honey,” I croon, shaking my head as he tries to look away, “I want more than one night with you, too.” I’d likeallthe nights, but I keep that tidbit to myself. I don’t think either of us wants to feel like a relationship between us is a rebound. Instead, I finish with, “I know we don’t really know each other, but I’d like that to change. And I think, judgin’ by that night in Brisbane, there’s potential for somethin’ special between us.”

He’s quiet for a moment and I wait patiently, letting the sounds from outside —the cicadas, crickets and the occasional bleat of an animal in the distance— fill the short void. Eventually, Ryan ducks his chin and confesses, “I think so, too.”

I want to whoop with joy, but I settle for an easy grin. “Then that’s settled. When can I take you on a date, sweet boy?”

I want so badly to be able to officially say that we’re dating.

Ryan laughs and flops back onto the mattress, rolling onto his side and propping himself on his elbow as he smirks up at me. “You move fast, huh?” Before I can defend my honour, he adds, “And, anyway, don’t think you’re getting out of telling me your tragic backstory.” The playful twinkle in his eye fades, and he reaches towards me with his free hand. Squeezing my thigh gently, he says, “I’m not going to think less of you.”

Snorting, I refute, “You haven’t heard what a fool I was yet.”

“It sounds like you trusted someone you loved. There’s nothing foolish about that.”

“You’re smooth, you know that?”

“Oscar,” his tone is serious. “When we met, you told me your limits were honesty above all else. That needs to go both ways. I’ll tell you everything and anything about Maddy and my marriage that you want or need to know, but I expect the same courtesy in return if we’re going to make anything between us work.”

“You’re right, darlin’.” I sigh. “I know you are. But…I was a real idiot, y’know? Any heartache I went through is my own damn fault. And, more than that, I’m embarrassed by it all. I’m a Daddy. I’m supposed to have my head on straight. I mean,” letting out a bitter laugh, my shoulders slump, “how can I ask a Boy to trust me to make decisions for him if my own track record is shot to hell?”

There’s another pause where Ryan considers me for a long moment, then he pushes himself back up and off the mattress and points towards the headboard. “Lie down,” he demands, and it’s such a surprise to be bossed around by someone I know to be incredibly submissive that I comply.

After crawling into place on the left side of the bed —my usual side— I watch as he follows and takes the right side. Then he opens his arms and I roll willingly into his embrace until he’s spooned against my back.

I’m not used to being the little spoon.

This is…nice. Strange, but nice.

“Now,” he says, and his generally soft voice rumbles through his chest at my back, “is it easier for you to talk about it if you’re not looking at me? Because I met youafterwhatever hurt you happened, and you were everything I needed that night. You were the perfect Daddy Dom, and I trusted you then and I’ll keep on trusting you after tonight.”

“But—”

“You know how I’m so sure?” The question is rhetorical because he answers it without my input. “I’m sure because youwouldn’t be so worried about being a good Daddy if you weren’t already a good Daddy.”

Should I have expected anything other than logic from my new Boy? I mean, the man is a vet, for Christ’s sake. He’s smart as hell, and I love it. When we really get going, I’m sure he’s going to keep me on my toes.

“Alright,” I concede, grinning as his hold around my waist tightens a little. But, honestly, where do I start? “So, I’ve been a Daddy Dom for a while now. Ten years or so. I trained at a club in New Orleans and when I say I’ve seen everythin’, darlin’, I saw most of it there in those early days.”

“Sounds like it would have been a great eye-opener.”

“For a kid like me from a tiny little churchgoin’ town in Texas, you bet your sweet ass it was.” I chuckle. “Of course, the internet opened my eyes long before I went out lookin’ to explore my kinks. But that’s a whole other story.”

He hums. “I am a little jealous that I missed out and had to have my whole sexual and kink awakening the old-school way: sneaking naughty magazines and hiding them under a mattress…or, after I turned eighteen, being shit scared of getting caught going to the adult stores on gay porn and kink nights in their little cinemas.”

“I havesomany questions,” I tease, imagining him as a skittish teenager blushing through his sexual awakening. “But I’ll keep ’em to myself for now.”

“Good, because I believe you were telling me a story.”

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